In the construction of modern homes and buildings, it is commonplace to have many wall-mounted electrical devices, such as power outlets, light switches, thermostats, alarm key pads, and home electronic control panels. With respect to thermostats, for example, such devices simply connect the control panel to the furnace or air conditioner of the home or building, and provide the user with a means of turning such equipment on or off by setting a given temperature. Over time, home controls such as thermostats and others have become digitized to enhance the ability of the home owner to control the interior environment of the home. For example, the electronic thermostats can be programmed so as to automatically update the desired temperature throughout the day.
Even above and beyond thermostats, modern homes and buildings have become digitized to allow for many of the features of the home or building to be automatically controlled. In addition to temperature, such control panels can be used to control the lighting, again dependent upon the time of day or presence or absence of any movement within a room. The audio or visual offerings of the home or building can also be so controlled. For example, modern homes may have speakers built into the walls of one or more of the rooms in the house, each of which is connected to a central source of the audio or visual lead. In some instances, a server can be used to store vast quantities of audio or video material which can be called upon by the user at the electronic control panel. In addition, different audio and visual leads can be provided for different zones within the home.
A still further example is a modern electronic control panel provided with a video monitor for accessing various cameras throughout the house. This may be for security purposes, or child rearing purposes, and provide the home owner with the ability to see locations of the home distant from the electronic control panel, e.g., the front door, the backyard, infant's rooms, etc.
While the performance and capability of such wall-mounted electrical devices continues to increase, their aesthetic effect lags behind. As they need to be provided in a centrally located or at least readily accessible fashion so as to allow the home owner or building owner to adjust as needed, they have previously had to be visibly present in at least one room. With respect to alarm pads and home electronic panels, they have conventionally simply hung on a wall at a height comparable to a thermostat. The panel may include some sort of exterior housing with a plurality of user engagable buttons and one or more display panels. While not unattractive, if the panel is displayed in a home, particularly an upscale home, the appearance of such a panel may be out of place, or otherwise detrimentally affect the aesthetics of the room.
There is therefore a need in the market place for a mechanism by which such wall-mounted electrical devices can be concealed from sight to thereby improve the aesthetics of the room, while still being readily accessible by the user.